The Pentagon spent decades chasing Iron Man. The exoskeletons that actually work are much simpler

This article is republished with permission from Laser Wars, a newsletter about military laser weapons and other futuristic defense technology. The soldier of the future doesn’t carry his weapon into battle—he simply wears it. In Robert Heinlein’s beloved 1959 novel Starship Troopers, Johnny Rico’s powered battlesuit is a second skin of servos and armor that makes him faster, stronger, and more lethal than any warrior in the history of warfare. Standard issue for members of the Mobile Infantry,…